Huboom!
Huboom! is a digital subchannel that was formerly a programming block on Hub Network. Huboom! is owned by Discovery Communications and Hasbro. A programming block from 2010-14, Huboom! became a digital subchannel in 2015. History The original incarnation of Huboom! ran on weekday nights from 11:30pm to 1:00am Eastern Time, beginning in October of 2010 until Fall of 2011. The block was hosted by a cynical and irritable copier (voiced by Townsend Coleman) and a delusional fax machine (which believed beyond any shadow of a doubt that it was an "officebot" Transformer). Aimed at adults who grew up on Hasbro's older cartoons, Huboom! was The Hub's "nostalgia" block. Shows on Huboom! included the Adam West version of Batman, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and The Transformers (branded by the network as "Transformers: Generation One"). After the Huboom! label was removed, the programs on Huboom! continued running in their 11:30pm to 1:00am timeslots for several months. Weekday afternoon Huboom! Beginning in May of 2012, Huboom! was revived as a boy's action cartoon block, running on weekday afternoons from 3:00pm to 7:30pm Eastern Time, hosted by Mark Hamill. Shows aired during the block include The Super Hero Squad Show, G.I. Joe: Renegades,'' Transformers: Prime'', Transformers: Animated, Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series, G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 and Batman: The Animated Series. Huboom! Saturdays and Huboom! Nights In the Summer of 2013, Huboom! was moved to Saturdays at 12:30pm Eastern time while an offshoot called Huboom! Nights began airing at 8pm Eastern Time on Tuesdays. Announcing duties were split between Townsend Coleman and Mark Hamill. Shows aired during Huboom! Saturdays were the same as the previous weekday line-up, while shows aired during Huboom! Nights were pared down to Batman the Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Superman the Animated Series. Although Transformers: Prime was not included in the Huboom! Nights line up, a special series of Ask Megatron commercials were issued to promote the block and aired as special features during advertisement breaks. The End of Huboom! Block On June 12, 2014, it was reported that Margaret Loesch would step down from her role as Hub Network president and CEO by the end of 2014.22 On September 17, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that Discovery Communications was preparing to acquire a controlling stake in Hub Network from Hasbro, and then re-brand it as Discovery Family. Hasbro staff, along with Discovery's CFO Andrew Warren, acknowledged that increasing competition in the children's media landscape—especially by subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, had an effect on the overall performance of the network and Hasbro's original content. As it was majority-owned by a competitor, other major toy companies such as Mattel refused to purchase advertising time on Hub Network, affecting its ability to air advertising that targeted its main audience; by 2014, the network had made only $9 million per year. Discovery staff was also unable to display a full commitment to Hub Network's operation, due to factors such as the troubled launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network. Believing that they had overvalued its stake in the venture, Hasbro decided to cede the operation of the network to Discovery so it could focus more on content and its core toy business. Discovery and Hasbro publicly announced the planned re-branding on September 25, 2014; Hasbro's CEO Brian Goldner explained that Discovery Family would be the "next chapter" in its joint venture with Discovery, "combining highly rated award-winning storytelling around Hasbro's brands and Discovery's most popular non-fiction shows that appeal to both children and families alike." Hub Network was re-launched as Discovery Family on October 13, 2014—just over four years since the original launch of The Hub. With these changes, Discovery Communications now holds a 60% stake in the joint venture; Hasbro continues to hold a 40% stake in Discovery Family, and continues to program the network's daytime lineup with children's programming. Following the re-launch, the network's primetime lineup was replaced by reruns of family-oriented factual programming from Discovery Channel's library. Henry Schleiff, who leads sister networks such as Destination America and Investigation Discovery, leads the re-launched network, with Tom Cosgrove (who previously served as CEO of Discovery Channel and Science) as general manager. And with that The Hub, including Huboom! came to an end, Huboom! Return A month after the end of The Hub, Discovery Communications and Hasbro announced that they're bring back Huboom! as a digital subchannel. In addition to airing former programming on The Hub, Huboom! will also air classic action programming, including the Adam West version of Batman and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. So on January 1, 2015, Huboom! returned, this time as a digital subchannel. Programming Schedule Affiliates If you wish to be an affiliate of Huboom!, please your add station to this list. Keep in mind that it is in alphabetical order. Category:Fictional television networks Category:Discovery Communications Category:Hasbro